Changing Tides
by neridasnape
Summary: Hermione returns to hogwarts alone for her 7th year following the final battle. She is head girl and very confused about her feelings about just about everything. HG/SB and others. This is my first fic please r
1. Chapter 1

A/N This is my first attempt at Fan Fiction and will be HG/SB but may have other HG pairings before it gets there. it is AU. Sirius and Fred didn't die because I just love them too much. I'm still not 100% sure as to how long this will be as of yet but I have had this on my mind for some time. Warning that there will be Smut as the story progresses but I will put a notice in tgethe authors notes ahead

~~~3~~~

Hermione hadn't been feeling well the entire train trip to Hogwarts as she returned for her 7th year. She knew part of it was nerves, as this year she was going to be alone. Harry had decided to commence Auror training instead of returning as it was too hard for him to go back to Hogwarts. During the battle 6 months ago, when Harry had been "killed" by Voldemort's killing curse, Ron had decide to deflect and join the Dark Lord thinking that the order was fighting a losing battle. Once Voldemort had fallen, Ron had ran into the forrest to try to escape only to be captured the next day by none other then his brothers, Fred and George, and taken to Azkaban to await his trial. As far as Harry was concerned his best friend had died that instant.

Another reason she felt so bad was guilt. During the months after the battle she had been unable to find her parents to restore their memories. She felt as though she had betrayed their trust by taking the memories and didn't know if they were happy with their new lives or even if they were alive.

So their she sat, staring out the window of her compartment, wallowing in her sorrows.

"Mione" Ginny called from the door.

"MIONE! HELLO! Wakey wakey" she said again after getting no response.

"Huh... what? I wasn't sleeping?" Hermione replied after turning from the window.

"I know" Ginny laughed "But you were definitely day dreaming. I said hello and called your name several times before you acknowledged"

"Oh, I'm sorry Gin, I was just thinking about... well..." she trailed off.

"Oh, Mione, don't. He isn't worth even a second thought. He's nothing but scum."

"Ginny, don't say that, he's still your brother."

"He NOT my brother! As far as I am concerned I only have 5 brothers. He is a traitor." Ginny snapped back.

"Sorry" Hermione replied as she turned back to look out the window.

"Don't apologise, its not your fault. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. It's just the thought of him sends me into a rage. I smashed mum's clock when I seen his hand pointed at the Forbidden Forrest before Fred and George captured him. Stupid git must have forgotten about the clock when he decided to run. Anyway, the reason I came by was because we are only about 20 minutes away and you need to get changed and meet with the prefects to organise going back to the castle"

"Shit! I completely lost track of the time. Thank you Gin" Hermione patted Ginny's shoulder as she dashed out of the compartment with her robes and Head Girl badge.


	2. Chapter 2

/N - Pretty happy with the response so far. Keep it coming as it keeps me motivated to keep writing. Updates won't be regular as I am a single mum of an 18 month old and he can be a handful some days and am also writing this on my phone until my laptop gets fixed. I hope you enjoy this chapter and remember to r&r as it helps me :)

Disclaimer- Unfortunately I don't own anything but the plot.

~~~3~~~

When Hermione arrived in the prefects compartment everyone was already there waiting for her and the head boy.

"Has anyone seen Draco?" She asked as she sat down.

The only response she received was a slight shake of the head from Blaise before the door opened and Draco strutted in.

"Ok, lets get down to business, I have better things to do" Draco said before he was even in the compartment. "Zabini, Weaslette and Bones you can help the second and third years, Macmillan, Davies and Abbott, you're on forth and fifth years, Clearwater and Petil can take the six and seventh years as they should know where they are going. Granger and I will help Hagrid with the first years. Any question?"

"Who made you boss? Just because Hermione was nice enough to testify for you doesn't mean you're in charge" snarled Ginny

"It may not, but this badge does. And I didn't hear Granger protesting to anything I've said" Draco shot back without even looking at Ginny

"I agree with Draco, Gin, this is the easiest way to do it. Hagrid will need extra help as there are a lot more first years to normal" Hermione said "And you should know that Draco is the only reason I'm here now!" She snapped before storming out.

When Hermione got back to her compartment she cast a disillusionment charm upon herself and the room so if any looked through the door all they see in a luggage closet. She didn't want to be disturbed. Thanks to Ginny's dislike for Malfoy, everything she had been trying to forget about the night at Malfoy Manor was coming back to haunt her. Her arm was burning from where Bellatrix had maimed her. As tears rolled down her cheeks, she tried to figure out how she could get past it. She thought about the person everyone thought she was, a frizzy haired, bucked toothed, goody two shoes bookworm. But this was not who she wanted to be, it wasn't who she really was.

Without a second thought about she decided that she was going to be the girl she wanted to be from now on. This was how she would get past the horrible things that had happened at the Manor, this is how she would get over the fact that the boy she loved, well at least thought she had loved, betraying her and she wouldn't be alone this year. She would make sure of it.

First thing she needed to do was hand McGonagall a resignation from her position as Head Girl.


	3. Chapter 3

N - Ok so I've decide I am going to try and get at least a chapter written a night (hopefully). I think it will be easier for me at night when my son is sleeping that way I'm not getting interrupted. There should be a new chapter up at least every second day but this cannot be guaranteed. I will try my best though. This chapter is twice as long as the other 2 but it really needs to be as it introduces a lot of the main characters so please hang in as not much happens. I have figured out where hermione character is going but how she gets there is yet to be decided.

Also, has anyone else tried Bertie Bot's every flavor beans? I got some today for the first time and the first one I try is vomit flavor. Safe to say it was the most disgusting tasting jelly bean I've ever had.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot.

~~~3~~~

_To Whom it May Concern,_

_I, Hermione Jean Granger, wish to resign from my position as Head Girl. Due to stress caused by resent events and the need to find myself, I do not find I will be able to perform my duties as I am expected to. I would like the opportunity to stay on as a Prefect but can understand if that is not possible. _

_I would also like to recommend Ginevra Weasley as my replacement as I feel she is most capable._

_I apologise for resigning on such short notice however I do feel this is for the best._

_Yours sincerely, _

_H.J Granger_

Once the parchment had been folded and place in it envelope, Hermione set off towards the Teachers lounge, hoping McGonagall was on the train.

~~~3~~~

"Ah, Miss Weasley, would you be so kind as to meet me in my office quickly before the feast begins? I have something to discuss with you" McGonagall asked as Ginny enter the castle

"Certainly, Headmistress" Ginny relied, a little confused as to what could possibly be so urgent it couldn't wait until after the feast.

"The password is Tabby cat" she said before turning to the Entrance of the Great Hall.

"Zabini, are you and Susan right to lead these guys into the Hall? I need to meet the headmistress before the feast begins?" Ginny asked turning to Blaise who was leading the crowd of second and third years with Ginny.

"Yeah, we will be fine. Is everything okay?"

"I have no idea" Ginny said before running off up the stair towards the headmistress office.

~~~3~~~

"Welcome back everyone to another year. Before we begin the sorting I have a few start of year notices." The Headmistress started, addressing the extra large crowd of students. "Firstly, I would like to send my condolences to all students and staff who lost loved ones in the War. The loss of any life is hard on all. Secondly, I would like to thank all students and Professors who assisted in the rebuild of our great school. You have done a remarkable job in repairing the castle back to its former glory at an exceptionally fast rate. I would like to inform Slytherin students that your common room has changed locations to a brand new tower that was built upon Professor Slughorn's request. Your prefects have been advised of the location." this announcement was meant by cheers from most Slytherins, happy to escaped the cold murky dungeons. "As many of you have noticed we have many changes in staff after a couple of deaths and 3 retirements. I would like to introduce to you Professor Weasley, who is taking over Defense against the Dark Arts"

"Gin, did the twins say anything to you?" Hermione whispered across the table as George took an extremely exaggerated bow

"Not a word"

"... And this Professor Weasley, will be taking over as Charms professor for Professor Flitwick who has decided to retire. Many of you may remember the Weasley's from their time here not to long ago, as a tip, you can tell them apart by the fact Professor George Weasley, who has Dark Arts is missing an ear. I will warn all of you not to get on the wrong side of the Weasley's as they are very well known pranksters and a blind eye may be turned to any deserved pranks" This was followed by laughter from the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables while the Slytherins glared at them.

"What about the shop? Whose going to look after it if they are here?" Hermione once again whispered to Ginny across the table.

"I don't know, maybe they have opted not to rebuild"

"... Hagrid shall be returning to his former position in charge of Care of Magical Creatures whoever he is away for a week collecting a few specimens for his class so until his return the class will be used as a study period. Professor Cuttlemore will be taking of Muggle Studies." Hermione instantly recognised Professor Cuttlemore as the woman who was in the hearing at the ministry when Harry got the locket from Umbridge. "... Ahhhh finally" the doors to the of the Great Hall opened and a very smug looking Sirius Black walked down the center isle, smirking at the shocked gasps coming from some students who obviously hadn't read the Daily Profit at all since the war seeing how there had been an article about him at least once a week since he was cleared. "And this gentleman, who might I add, is innocent of all accusations made against him regarding murder, is Professor Black who will be taking over from yours truly as Transfigurations Professor as well as Head of Gryffindor. And as every other year the Forbidden Forest is exactly that, forbidden unless under the supervision of a professor. Now I would like to introduce you all to your head boy and girl, Mr Draco Malfoy and Miss Ginevra Weasley"

Upon this announcement nearly all students turned to Hermione, with a look of confusion. To this she just smiled, shrugged and began to clap and cheer for her friend.

As the sorting began, Ginny turned to Hermione "Why did you resign? Not that I'm not ecstatic to be head girl but it was yours?"

"I just couldn't do it, Gin. I didn't want another year of having to be the responsible one. I just want to be me for once."

"I guess I can understand that. And thank you for recommending me for the position. I really am so grateful even if I have to put up with Malfoy all year. Its going to be hell"

"Sure it will Ginny, sharing a dorm with the Slytherin Sex God" Hermione giggled

"I think that's the first time I've heard you giggle. Ever. It sounds good on you. Did you know about Sirius?"

"Thanks. I knew he got the offer but I thought he had refused because he wanted to spend time with Harry"

"Well Harry is going to be gone all year. He's off in some secret location for training"

"True, I forgot about that. I suppose he wouldn't want to be alone after finally being a free man" Hermione said looking up at her Transfigurations Professor.

"What's was that look?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She smirked


	4. Chapter 4

A/N - I'm on a roll at the moment so I'm going to keep writing and uploading while I'm inspired. Enjoy. R&R please :)

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own harry potter.

~~~3~~~

As it was Friday, Hermione decided to help Ginny get settled in the Heads dorm after she unpacked her trunk and have a girls night.

As she was walking towards the portrait, someone turned into the corridor from the headmistress' stairwell.

"Sirius! Why didn't you tell me you were going to a Professor?" She said once she was close enough to see who it was.

"Hey little lady, I didn't want Harry to change his mind and come back to school instead."

"You still could have told me! I live with you for Merlin's sake!" She scolded. Frown up at him.

"Nah, you can't keep anything from Harry. And you know it. Anyway what are you doing wandering the corridors at this hour, I wouldn't want to take points off my own house before classes have even started"

"I'm going to help Ginny get settled into the head dorms"

"Makes sense. Now quickly, why did you give up your position? And don't try to give me the excuse you gave McGonagall, I know the stress isn't the only reason why" he asked, raising his eye brow curiously.

"Honestly, I just want to be me. Not the me that everyone has seen but the real me. Plus I want some fun and I want to be able to let loose for one"

"Understandable, now you get going. We will catch up for a chat before Monday" and with that Sirius headed off past Hermione to his quarters but not before looking back over his shoulder to watch her walk away.

Since returning from her attempt to find her parents, Hermione had been living at Grimmauld Place with Harry and Sirius. When she returned neither of the men could deny that she had definitely grown into a stunning woman. Her hair was no longer a frizzy birds nest, but a thick smooth fall of curls, her teeth no longer looked too big for her face as she had grown into the nicely and that body. It was a body that would make any man swoon. She had curves in all the right places. The only problem was she didn't seem to realise. She would wear loose, unflattering clothes and her hair was always up. It was only in the mornings that she wasn't hiding.

Sirius shook his head as he turn back around. He couldn't have these thoughts, she was his students and his godsons best friend.

~~~3~~~

When Hermione entered the heads dorm the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"What do you want Granger? This isn't your dorm since you decided to leave me with the Weaslette" Draco snarled as the portrait shut behind her.

"I didn't leave you with with anyone. The Headmistress choose Gin as my replacement. And I'm here to help Ginny get comfortable and keep her from killing you"

"Like she could kill me, Granger"

"I killed your father remember, I could easily kill you if I wanted to" Ginny piped up from the burgundy lounge she was sitting on.

"That man isn't my father. The only thing he cared about was having an heir and having his child be a Death Eater" he growled back at her. His face turning red in anger while his pale blue eyes darkened.

"Sorry Malfoy, forget I said that"

.

"That's alright, but if you ever mention that man again I swear to Merlin I will hex you where you stand"

"Sounds fine by me as long as the same is done by you in regards to Ronald"

"That's fair. Well I'm going to go unpack now" he said before turning into his bedroom and closing the door.

"What took you so long? I feel like I've been sitting her in awkward silence for hours." Ginny asked

"Oh I ran into Sirius as I entered the corridor and we got talking"

"What about?" Ginny asked curiously, raising her eyebrows suspiciously.

"Just why he didn't tell me he had agreed to be a professor and then why I gave up being head girl" Hermione said as if it was nothing but the little smile that played at the corner of her lips told a different story

"You're not telling me something!" Ginny accused

"No I've told you everything"

"I don't believe you but I WILL get it out of you eventually"

The girls walked towards Ginny's room and began unpacking and decorating is a comfortable silence. Once they had finish Ginny turned around the room taking it in. "I can really get use to having my own room" Ginny mused with a genuine smile.

"Its one of the perks of being a Head I guess." Hermione said with a slight hint of regret in her voice.

"Are you wishing you didn't resign? We could always go to McGonagall and swap back?"

"No, not at all. I just like the idea of having my own room. Could come in handy."

"What's that meant to mean? Planning on having a few snog sessions this year?" Ginny joked.

"Possibly, but I meant as an escape"

"Hang on a minute, Hermione Granger is possibly planning on snogging some boy? Who are you and what have you done with the real Hermione" Ginny's were wide with shock.

"I am the real Hermione, Gin, for once in my life I get to be the real me. For the past 7 years I've had to be the level headed logical one. I had to keep the boys in line and make sure they didn't get themselves killed. Now I don't. The war is over. I can actually be me and have some fun, instead of having my nose in a book." A small smile crept across Hermione's face as she said this.

"So tell me, who is the real you?" Curiosity taking over

"I'm not 100% sure, only thing I know is she isn't the frizzy haired, goody two shoe book worm I've been for the past 7 years."

"Well you definitely don't have frizzy hair anymore. How did you get your hair under control?"

"When I was in Australia, I went to their equivalent to Diagon Alley and came across a little hair salon. One quick spell and I won't have to deal with it again."

"No way! Why don't we know about this spell!?"

"I guess if everyone knew there would be no need for the potions and a lot of people would be out of jobs"

"True. Now what do you want to do? I'm getting rather tired." She said while covering a yawn.

"Go to bed, Gin. I'll go get set up on the couch" Hermione said as she got up off Ginny's bed.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm quite happy with the response I'm getting so far. I hope you are all liking the story so far. I'm not sure of the title and cannot find a suited on at the moment. If anyone has any ideas let me know please :) Sorry its taken so long to update (I know how much I hate waiting) but I've had a sick child and now I'm coming down with the flu. The joys of winter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot

~~~3~~~

Hermione woke up to the feeling of being watched. She slowly opened her eyes and was confused as to where she was.

"Oi! Granger, why are you asleep on my couch? Don't you have your own bed" a male voice said.

Jumping up and spinning in the direction of the voice, wand pointed out. "Fuck Draco, don't you know better then to yell at someone whose just woken up" she snapped upon seeing Draco smirking at her.

"Well I don't normally wake up to some bird asleep on the couch in my dorm, normally they are kicked out before I go to sleep" he retorted back at her.

"If you must know, I finished helping Ginny and it was after curfew so I slept here. I'll be off now. Can you tell Ginny to meet me in the Hall for breakfast when she wakes up. And be nice please"

"Yes Ma'am" he said as she walked out of the portrait.

Ginny woke to the sound of the portrait closing, and thinking it was Draco leaving she decided to take a shower before going to breakfast. She gathered her clothes for the day and toiletries and walked to the bathroom she shared. As she opened the door she was greet by the back of a shirtless blonde standing in front of the sink. "Like what you see, do you?"

This pulled Ginny out of her stare "I've seen better" she stated although her eyes expressed a different story.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to have a shower. Unless you want to join" He asked suggestively

"Sorry Malfoy, you'll just have to fantasize" she counted before returning to her room.

'I guess I'll just have a shower after breakfast' she decided as she got dressed in some comfy slacks and a blouse.

~~~3~~~

Stepping out of the portrait hole, after a quick shower and dressing, Hermione was bumped to the ground "Ahhhgh, watch where your walking" she snapped pushing herself up

"I'm sorry, I was actually coming to find you"

'Oh shit' she thought while trying to straighten out her clothes, feeling embarrassed for having spoken to her Professor and best friends Godfather so rudely. "Sorry, Professor. What can I do for you?" She asked refusing to look at him.

"Please out side of class call me Sirius. You know me too well to call me professor. And I was wanting to know if you would like to join me for tea this afternoon around 4?" he asked, upon seeing her shocked face he quickly add "bring Ginny too, that way we can finish of the chat we had last night"

"Umm.. yeah of course" she stuttered blushing slightly before turning her back to him "umm I better be going. Don't want to miss breakfast" she called as she quickly walked off.

'Miss breakfast? Seriously? Its 8am on a Saturday unless it takes me two hours to walk to the great Hall I'm not going to miss breakfast'

Sitting down at the table next to Ginny she could help but feel stupid. She had gotten all embarrassed and shy because Sirius had invited her and Ginny to tea. For Christ sake she had lived with his for months. He was a father figure to her she told herself.

"What's got you all flustered? " a voice asked pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Nothing. Hey Sirius wants to know if we want to go to tea with him this afternoon"

"Ahhhh so that's why your flustered" Ginny smirked "Are you sure there isn't something going on there?"

"God no!" She exclaimed "He's Harry's godfather"

"So? He's attractive, intelligent and has that whole bad boy thing going for him."

"He's Harry's godfather and I live with him"

"Exactly my point. You live with him, Harry wasn't at Grimmauld a lot of nights over the summer. How knows what happened?" She was smirking again. God she'd only lived with Draco for one night and she was already picking up on his traits.

"Nothing happened, nothing will ever happen." Apparently her eggs had now became quite fascinating.

"But he want something to. You like him don't you?"

"Yes. I mean no. I did have a thing but it was caused because of the grief of not being able to find my parents, losing one of my best friends and the boy I thought I loved and also the deaths of everyone else, and he was there for me. It was stupid and he made it clear that it would never happen." She said pushing her plate away.

"Why the long face, lovely?" An overly energetic Fred said as he sat down in between his sister and Hermione.

"Just girl talk Fred. Now can you let us get back to it" Ginny asked clearly annoyed by Fred's presence.

"No I can't, Georgy has ditched me to sit with his girlfriend and I'm not sitting with the boring old professors by myself"

"You're one of those 'boring old professors' now" Hermione snickered

"I'll never be boring, or old" he chirped throwing his arm around Hermione's shoulder. "And that's why everyone loves me"

Both girls burst out in laughter at the serious look on his face.

"What its true" he said "now what are you ladies up to today. I really don't want to follow George and Luna around all day"

"Wait, George and Luna? When did that start?" Hermione asked

"Yeah and why didn't I know? And how are they openly dating when she's a student?" Ginny asked. The shock obvious in both their voices.

"Umm it started about 2 weeks after the battle when she came buy the shop to see if we needed any help, they sort both just click and the rest is history as they say. George didn't feel it was the right time with everything going on with... well you know... to tell Mum and since you can't lie to save your life we didn't tell you. And to answer the final question before we accepted the jobs George spoke with McGonagall and since Luna should technically be finished school now and is considered an adult she didn't see anything wrong with it so she got the Law amended so now students in seventh year are able to date teachers under the age of 40, of course there is a list of rules with it" He finished up.

"Why the ages limited?" Asked Ginny

"Well it wouldn't exactly be ethical for a 19 year old to date a 60 year old would it? What have you got a thing for an older professor do you?" He laughed

"No **_I_**don't" she said, glaring at her older brother.

"Why the emphasis on the 'I'? Does someone else?"

"Maybe" Ginny replied

Fred turned to Hermione to see her walking out the doors.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N- Please excuse my grammar on this update. Im using my laptop and my shift key is broken, so some punctuation may be off. Also I apologise to those who I said I would have an update up by yesterday, the winter flu is hitting us hard and I now have an ear infection on top. I will now be updating every Monday and Friday. Im going to get myself a few chapters ahead tonight so I will be updating as prepared. Goblet of Fire is on TV tonight which is giving me inspiration to write. Anyway enjoy. R/R

Disclaimer – I don't own anything but the plot unfortunately.

~~~3~~~

As soon as Hermione heard Fred ask Ginny why she was asking about the age limit on the dating of Professors, she got up and left the table before Ginny hinted towards her and Sirius not realising that this would be more suspitious. As she walked out the doors she realised that she didn't get an answer off Ginny regarding afternoon tea. 'I'll go find her in a bit' she thought to herself.

"Who is it, Ginny?" Fred asked, watching Hermione walk out the door.

"Who's who?' Ginny decide to play it dumb so she wouldn't betray her best friends trust.

"Which Professor is it that Mione has the hots for?"

"I don't have a clue what youre talking about Fred. Now what do you want to do today?"

"Its me isn't it. I know the ladies can't resist me" Fred said wiggling his eyebrows. "It's ok, Gin, I won't say anything to her, she can come find me when she's ready. As for today, how about I get us clearance to go to Hogsmead? I'm sure you and Mione would like a day of shopping and I want to pop into Zonkos. George and I don't have much time this year to make our own products so why not support the competition. Now you go find Hermione and I'll go see McGonagall to get you passes."

"Awesome! Who knew having a brother as a professor would mean I get special treatment" She joked, ignoring Fred's comments about Hermione.

~~~3~~~

"Fortitude" Ginny said to the Fat Lady to gain access to the Gryffindor common room. Looking around the common room she spotted Hermione looking through the latest issue of Witch Weekly

"Since when do you read Witch Weekly?"

"Since now. I told you I was going to be the real me. The real me, despite popular belief, is actually a girl. I'm trying to find a decent make up charm, doing it the muggle way takes too long and I'd rather the extra sleep in the morning." Hermione replied looking up from the magazine in her lap.

"No need for the magazine, your best friend just so happens to be great at most beauty charms"

"Really? Harry can do beauty charms. I never knew he was into that sort of thing." She joked

"No, I know from experience he isn't into those things. I meant me, you dunderhead."

"You never know, that could have been the real reason he broke it off with you." Hermione struggled to stop herself from laughing. "I'm only joking, I knew who you meant. Will you show me some?"

"Come on lets go to my dorm. I still need to have a shower before we go to Hogsmead. Fred is getting us day passes."

~~~3~~~

Once the girls were ready they headed down to the Entrance Hall to meet Fred.

"Well don't you ladies look lovely" Fred said "I could only get a 2 hour passes but I'm sure that's long enough. Surely we can find something to do back here afterwards"

"That's great Fred. Ginny and I have afternoon tea with Sirius at 4 anyway so we would have had to of left by 3 as it is" Hermione thanked him.

"Well come on then. No time to lose." Ginny skipped out the doors.

As they reached Hogsmead, Hermione took the lead heading towards Gladrags Wizardwears. "I'm going to go in here, I want to see if they have anything decent to wear on weekends" she said walking towards the door.

"I'll come with you. Fred we will meet you at Honeydukes in half an hour?"

"Sounds good. I'll be in Zonkos if you finish before then." He said as he walked off.

As the girls walked into the clothes shop, Ginny was looking at Hermione as if she was a completely different person to the one she had known for the past 7 years. 'Well, I guess she is, if what she said last night is true'

Hermione was able to find 3 new skirts, a pair of slacks and 4 new blouses. She was planning on doing her own alterations as the colours and styles were all pretty basic and not to mention the skirts when to her mid calf. They exited the shop and headed to Honeydukes to meet Fred and buy some sweet before heading to the Three Broomsticks to have a couple of pints of butterbeer. Before they knew it, it was time to head back to the castle.

As they reached the stairs Hermione turned to Ginny "I'll meet you at the Gryffindor Common room at 3:50?" she asked

"Oh, I forgot, I promised Malfoy we'd work on the schedules this afternoon so they are ready for tomorrow's prefect meeting." Ginny apologised, her face turning into a smirk "I'm sure, you'll have plenty of fun without me though"

"Oh, Ginny! I'll just cancel until you're free" Hermione resigned, not wanting to go on her own.

"You'll do no such thing. You still have to live with the man outside of Hogwarts, so what does an afternoon tea matter?" She chastised

"Ok, you're right. I'll go. I'll talk to you at dinner, then?"

"You sure will, and I want to hear all the saucy details. Oh, and change into something nice too, and maybe apply one of those charms I taught you this morning" She winked as Hermione entered the common room.

Hermione rolled her eyes, but headed to her common room to do exactly what Ginny said.

~~~3~~~

Once 3:30 hit, Hermione started pacing her dorm. She was hoping that getting ready would take up until she was due to meet with Sirius but it hadn't. She checked her reflection in the mirror, her hair was perfect, make up was minimal but excentuated her cheek bones and made her eyes stand out, she was wearing one of her new skirts which she had shorted to sit mid thigh and changed to a lilac colour and she had pulled in one of her new blouses so that it sat more snug but not too tight. Picking a piece of invisible lint off her shoulder she checked that time. Finally it was time to leave.

When she got to Sirius' door she went to knock, pulling her fist back just before she wrapped on the door 'I can't do this. I just can't' she thought to herself 'Wake up to yourself; you live with man for fucks sake.' She told herself, knocking before she talked herself out of it.

"Hi Mione, no Ginny?" he asked stepping aside for her to enter his chambers.

"No, sorry. She had to do the prefects schedules with Draco this afternoon."

'Ahh, not a problem. Well have a seat and I'll get the tea ready"

Hermione sat in one of the armchairs facing the fire. She felt stiff and awkward but couldn't bring herself to relax.

"What's up, love? You look awfully uncomfortable" Sirius asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Nothing. I'm fine"

"So, tell me, what made you decide to give up your head girl spot? You've worked so hard all these years to get that spot"

Hermione was a little thrown back by the lack of small talk; instead he was getting straight to the point. "Well I guess it all comes down to not wanting to be that person anymore. I'm not really that person" she used the same answer she had the day before.

"Yes, yes, you said that yesterday. What I really mean is why did you work so hard all these years and then change who you are."

"I haven't changed who I am, at the start of my first year I worked so hard to prove myself and then when I started getting called a 'mudblood' by Draco, I wanted to prove that just because I was muggleborn didn't mean I was any less than him. As the years progress and the war moved on I worked hard so I'd be able to help Harry defeat Voldemort" She explained "And as you know it paid off, Draco learnt that it doesn't matter what your blood status is and went on to save my life when I was captured and then fought with us in the final battle and as everyone know, and I don't want to sound up myself, but if it wasn't for me, Harry would have never been able to destroy the horcuxes and then kill Voldemort."

"I can understand that but it just has me puzzled. You could have started being the real you after you got back from Australia but instead you spent most of the time sitting in the library"

"I know. But I wasn't in the right frame of mind. Ronald and I started, I guess you could call it dating, when we were hunting for the horcruxes and then as soon as it was looking like we lost he turned his back on all of us and joined Voldemort, leaving me heartbroken. And to top it all off I wasn't able to find my parents. I don't even know if... if... they are still alive" she stuttered, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks.

Sirius walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Mione. I didn't mean to upset you or bring up memories." He whispered, stroking her hair. "Shhh, please don't cry"

Hermione sniffled, wiping away her tears to look up at the man comforting her. She pushed herself up closer to him, not looking away from his eye and kissed him.


	7. Chapter 7

SECOND ATTEMPT AT UPLOADING

A/N- I'm so sorry, I know I promised this chapter on Monday but my baby has been incredibly sick. I have hardly been able to put him down since Sunday afternoon. He still isn't 100% but is doing much better. Also I have now got a new keyboard so I can write properly. Yay. You will notice in this chapter there are different page breaks. These represent a flash back. Seeing how I write thoughts, most of the time, in italics I think it could get a little confusing, however if my regular readers would prefer it that way please leave me a review to let me know. This chapter is rated M for some Sirius snogging, haha, and bad language, nothing to heavy but just a warning. Well on with the chapter as I'm sure you are all desperate to know what happened after the kiss.

IMPORTANT PLEASE NOTE: I have to go back to chapter 5 and change the new rule with teachers and students to 45 instead of 40 as this story is set in 1999 so Sirius would already be 40 and Hermione 20 (when I calculated their ages I forgot Hermione was a year older then everyone else but knew Sirius was 20 years older then her)

Disclaimer : I don't own anything except for the plot

~~~3~~~

Before Sirius could push Hermione away, she pulled away and ran out of his quarters. This was the exact reason she didn't want to go alone, she knew it would happen if he tried to comfort her in any way. "_Dammit! Dammit! Dammit" _she muttered to herself as she ran towards the tower. She should have canceled or at least pulled away when he hugged her but no, it was just like before, only this time she got away before it went as far.

****##****

Hermione sat in the library at Grimmauld a week after returning from Australia attempting to distract herself from the pain she was feeling inside, when Sirius enter. "Harry has gone to visit the Weasley's. He said if you want to join him, just floo over" he told her, while looking at the shelves for something to read.

"Do you mind if I stay here? I'm not ready to face them yet" she replied without looking up from the book she had been looking at for the past half an hour.

"Not at all, but you should know Mrs Weasley would like to see you, she sees you as one of her daughters."

"I know, but I haven't told anyone but you and Harry that I went to find my parents and I can't deal with the questions right now" a tear slowly ran down her cheek.

"Please don't cry. You don't need to see them yet. I'm sure Harry will tell them about it today and then next time he goes you know they won't mention it." He told her as he gentley stroked her back.

"Thank you, Sirius. I don't know what I would have done this last week without you" she nestled her head into his chest, tears started to become heavier and she began to sob.

"Shh, love. It will be okay. I promise. I know it might not feel that way right now, but I swear to you it as time goes on it will get easier. The pain won't ever go but you will learn to live with it." He told her and kissed the top of her head. Without thinking he lifted her chin and went to kiss her cheek, as he done this Hermione turned to look at him and the kiss landed on her mouth. At first the kiss was a soft kiss that a friend would give when consoling, but the longer Sirius lingered, the more Hermione wanted to deepen it. As if reading her thought, Sirius opened his mouth and softly licked her bottom lip asking for entry which she granted.

Sirius pulled Hermione onto his lap and entwined his fingers into her hair, pulling her head back so he could deepen the kiss even further. Hermione's whole body was tingling, she could feel her stomach muscles tightening, and she began to push her body closer to Sirius', rubbing up against his lap. These actions were a wake up to Sirius as he felt himself harden. He lifted her off his lap and gently sat her back down next to him. "I'm so sorry, Hermione, I really should have done that. It was completely out of line to take advantage of you." He apologised.

A fresh tear ran down Hermione's cheek "You weren't taking advantage of me. I wanted this, I have for since before I left." She whispered, lowering her head so he couldn't see the tears that were beginning to fall more heavily caused by the feeling of being rejected.

"I did take advantage of you. You were confiding in me and I took advantage of that by kissing you. This can't happen between us. I'm your best friend's, who you look at like a brother, Godfather. You live under my roof and you are only 20 years old. I'm twice your age. It can't happen." As he walked out the door, he turned around to see the tears running down her cheeks "I'm so very sorry, Hermione, I hope this doesn't change anything"

***###***

Hermione throw herself onto her bed, drew the curtains and cast a silencing charm so no one could hear her sobs. After 15 minutes of tears she drifted off to sleep.

~~~3~~~

Ginny and Draco say across from each other trying to organise the schedules for the next month, they had already decided to do them on a fortnightly rotation and only need one 2 hour long shift a night with 2 prefects as there was no longer the threat as in previous years.

McGonagall had given them a few of rules to follow for the schedules that would help promote House Unity and also to make sure those who were on duty were safe. Those rules were; First and foremost each Prefect must be on duty with someone from a different house, secondly, the duos could only be male and female as having two females patrolling could pose a threat to them if they happen to come across a fight, and finally, before beginning their shift and at the end of the shift they must report to a head of house that has volunteered for that day. While the rules seemed simple the hard thing was there was an uneven amount of prefects making it more difficult to split evenly, the only thing helping was they didn't need patrols on weeks as the Professors would take care of them.

"Why don't we just not give me any shifts that way there is an even number to divide up and it will be fair" Draco suggested hopefully.

"That wouldn't be fair at all, and there are less male prefects then female so it would make it even more difficult. If anyone would get off their duties it should be a female" Ginny countered

"If I can't get off my shift you aren't either"

"I wasn't going to suggest that, I don't think anyone should get off"

Draco smirked at her wording "I guessed that when you refused to join me in the shower this morning" He said, raising his eyebrow at her.

"That's not what I meant, you git. You can get off when you want I just won't be doing it for you"

"Bat for the other team, do you, love?" He asked seriously.

"No I don't. I'm just not interested in you."

"See, that's exactly what makes me think you're into the ladies. Every girl is interested in me." Once again he was completely serious. "I wouldn't be too surprised if Potter turned you but I can assure you not all guys are duds in the sack like him"

"For fuck sake, I'm not a lesbian. I'm just not interested in sluts. I don't like the idea of what someone like you could be carrying" She signed, growing more and more frustrated with him. "And I really don't want to know how you know what Harry is like in the sack."

"Experience. That's how I know." He said. Ginny started to see red, the only time Draco and Harry got along she was dating Harry. "Oh shit!" Draco said, realizing why Ginny was looking ready to rip his head off "No, no. It was after you two split up, why do you think he hates me again? Anyway let's get these schedules done so that I can actually do something fun."

"I am going to get the whole story out of you but for now ok let's get these done, I need to see Hermione."

They started to work on the schedules and within half an hour they had them complete and went their separate ways.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I'm actually updating on the promised day. Happy Friday the 13th all. Wow, This story has had just under 3000 views so far! I only started this less than a fortnight ago! My apologies for the first upload of chapter 7. I'm not too sure what happened there as it was fine when I first checked it but obviously something happened, it is all fixed now. Thank you to **Padfootsgrl79 **for letting me know straight away. Here is a little fact about myself, I share a birthday with the Weasley twins and am a red head, just a coincidence? Unfortunately haha. Well I don't really have an author's note for this chapter.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own anything except the plot

~~~3~~~

Hermione woke up to a dimly lit room; she could tell it was late afternoon due to the shadows in the room. Her face felt tight, nose blocked and mouth dry. She got out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash her face. Looking in the mirror at her red swollen eyes and nose and messed hair, she sighed "_For fuck sake woman! What is wrong with you?_ "Angrily chastising herself, she decided to have a shower before heading to dinner and facing Ginny's onslaught of questions.

Getting out of the shower, she looked a lot better. Her eyes looked normal and the steam had cleared her nose. She casted a quick drying spell on her hair and decide she was going to act like nothing happened. It would be no good for her to pine over what she could never have.

~~~3~~~

All Ginny could think about on her way to the Great Hall was what Draco had told her about him and Harry. Did this mean Harry is gay? Is this why he broke up with her? She had completely forgotten about Hermione's tea with Sirius. It wasn't until she walked into the Hall and Sirius came up to her as she was sitting down.

"Hi Ginny, How was your meeting with Draco?" He asked

"We got the schedules done" She shrugged

"That bad, ay? Seems the afternoon for it." Sirius said "Have you seen Hermione?"

"Oh! No I haven't. Didn't she come to afternoon tea?"

"Yeah she did, but it something happened and she just left. I really need to talk to her. When you see her can you ask her to please come see me as soon as she can?" He asked

Curiosity was getting the better of her by now, what could have happened that would have caused Hermione to leave and make Sirius so anxious to see her. "Sure thing, Sir. I'll let her know"

~~~3~~~

Hermione sat down next to Ginny, after standing just outside the door for 10 minutes while she waited for Sirius to stop talking to Ginny and stop looking at the doors. While she wanted to move on she wasn't ready to face him yet. It had only been an hour and a half since she had ran out on him after kissing him. "Hey"

"Hey! I've been wondering when you'd get here. Now are you going to why Sirius came to me all worried, saying you ran out on your tea and why he is so desperate to talk to you."

"Not right now, I don't want people eavesdropping, but I will say that I'm done with that now. It's time for me to move on. It isn't doing me any good wanting something I can never have." She said.

"Ok. That's it, after dinner we are going to your dorm to get your pyjamas and stuff for classes tomorrow and you are staying with me tonight. You need to tell what the fuck happened, that could have cause you to just give up." She told her "And I have something to tell you that I found out today."

"I suppose I can do that. But we are getting something to drink. I don't care if we have classes tomorrow. I need something strong after the day I've had."

"I can agree with you there" Ginny laughed, she needed something to help her get her head around the fact that her ex boyfriend had slept with her now roommate, who was also hitting on her at every chance he got.

~~~3~~~

Once Hermione had all of her stuff ready, she headed towards the Heads dorm. She went the back way through a secret tunnel so that she would have to go near the Gryffindor Heads rooms. Knocking on the Portrait heard footsteps heading in her direction "Hermione! I've been looking for you everywhere" Sirius called out to her as he turned the corner at the end of the hall" The portrait swung open right then "I can't, not now. I'm busy, sorry" She called back stepping in the hole and quickly slamming it shut before Sirius could come after her.

"What was that all about?" Asked Draco

"Nothing, just don't have time to talk to Professor Black now. I'm meeting Ginny"

"And her I was thinking you'd come to visit me" Draco said over dramatically, clenching his chest.

"Oh, Draco, you should know better than to think anyone wants to visit you" Hermione joked. "Is Ginny in her room?"

"I'm guessing so"

Hermione walked up the stairs and knocked on Ginny's door. "Finally ready to tell me what happened, Draco?" Ginny asked before opening the door

"Last time I check, I was Hermione, but yes I suppose I'll tell you what happened." Hermione laughed.

"Oh sorry, I thought it was Draco, he's been avoiding me since the meeting this afternoon" she explained.

"Why would he be ignoring you and what does he have to tell you?" Hermione asked hoping to throw off on her issues.

"I'll explain once you have told me what happened with Sirius. Now did you get something to drink or what? I really need something"

"Here, I had half a bottle of Fire whiskey left that I brought with me." Hermione said, handing the bottle to Ginny, who had transfigured 2 vases into tumblers.

Ginny passed her a glass and they sat down on the armchairs across from Ginny's bed "Okay, so tell me what happened?"

Hermione told Ginny the story of what had happened at tea and also part of what had happened before she came back to school, leaving out how hot and heavy the snogging actually got but including everything that Sirius had said about why they could never be together. "Are you joking? You kissed him and ran before you even got a reaction? Why?"

"No, yes and because I couldn't deal with the feeling of rejection again" she answered refusing to look at Ginny. She didn't want to see the pity on Ginny's face, hearing it in her voice was enough.

"What if he wasn't going to reject you? If he was just going to reject you again, why was he so desperate to find you this afternoon?"

"I just know he was. His reasoning is perfectly valid. I shouldn't be fancying him. That's why I'm moving on. I said this year I wanted to be different. I wanted to have fun, so that is exactly what I'm going to do." She said trying to convince herself more than Ginny

"You still need to talk to him. He is still your professor and if you plan on going home during the breaks, you need to deal with him because Harry isn't there for you to hide behind"

"I know, and I will deal with it before break. It's not like he can bring anything up in class that would be unprofessional." Hermione murmured. "Now, what was it you needed to tell me?" She asked, successfully changing the subject.

"Ok, I am yet to find out the full story because Draco changed the subject. But was he over at Grimmauld at all before we came back to school?" She asked

"Yeah, he stayed until he could get his inheritance sorted. Maybe 2 weeks tops?" The question had confused Hermione.

"Was it after Harry and I split up?" Ginny was now getting worried that maybe Harry had indeed cheated.

"I'm not too sure. I don't actually know when you broke up because Harry is still at the Burrow regularly." Okay, now Hermione was definitely confused. She had no idea what this had to do with anything "Just tell me what you found out. You're confusing me."

"Sorry, before I tell you I need to make sure we weren't together when it happened. We broke up a week after the battle." Ginny explain.

"Then, yes, you weren't together when Draco stayed. He came to stay about a month after the battle." Hermione confirmed, still not understanding why Ginny needed to know this.

"Well, that's a relief. Now I don't need to kill the pair of them. Are you ready?" Hermione nodded "Draco and Harry slept together!"


	9. Chapter 9

A/N – Sorry I left that one on a bit of a cliffy but had I continued the chapter would have been at least twice as long, and this is quite a long chapter in itself. Please leave me a review.

So, I'm uploading this chapter a little early as I have had some people not to happy about my lack of warning about the implied slash. So here is the warning. This chapter has implied slash but I do beg you to read on even if you are not a fan. It is needed to bring the story along. Thank you to those that have stuck by from the beginning.

Order of the Phoenix is on tv tonight and the part were Sirius went through the veil just happen. I cried once again.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own anything but the plot

~~~3~~~

"WHAT!?" Hermione screamed.

"Shhh, I haven't put up a silencing charm" Ginny covered her mouth to try and keep her quite

"How do you know? Who told you? I can't see Harry telling you, if he didn't even tell me" By the look on Ginny's face, Hermione could tell instantly that she had offended Ginny. "I didn't mean it to sound rude. It's just I'm his best friend. He tells me absolutely everything."

"I thought he told me everything too, but obviously he doesn't" Hermione could hear the hurt in Ginny's voice. Despite their break up Ginny and Harry were still incredibly close. They had split up because after 7 years of trying and succeeding at destroying Voldemort, Harry had wanted a few months to be young before he went off to Auror training. He also didn't want Ginny waiting around while he was away at training. "I'm now wondering if he ended it because he realised he was gay." Ginny said, more to herself then Hermione.

"Would you have a problem if that was the case?" Hermione snapped. Not to impressed at the idea that her friend could have such a problem.

"No not at all. It's just if that was the case, I would have preferred to know."

"Okay, good. I would have been quite pissed off at you if you had those sorts of views." Hermione told her. "I don't know if he is, but can you tell me the full story. I still don't know how you found out about it."

Ginny told her about the conversation she had had with Draco earlier that day, leaving out the part about him inviting her into the shower that morning. She couldn't explain it but she was too embarrassed to tell Hermione about the fact that Draco was serious about her joining him in the shower. "So, does this mean Draco is gay? I never would have thought." Hermione said, slightly shocked about it all.

"No, I think he just likes sex to be honest." Ginny blushed, her cheeks nearly matching the red of her hair. "It is well known that he has had a number of conquests over the years"

"True. We really need to find out the whole story. You have to get him to tell you."

"You'll find a way." Hermione said suggestively. "I'm getting tired now and we do have classes in the morning. I think it's time to turn in. Good night" She said while transfiguring a cushion into a mattress on the floor.

"Okay, Good night Mione" She said as she slide under her covers.

~~~3~~~

Classes that morning had passed without a hitch. Hermione was glad she didn't have Transfigurations until the next day; the only problem was it was a double. The girls were walking with Luna to meet the twins for lunch out by the lake. "Are you sure we won't be intruding on your time with George, Luna?" Hermione asked.

"Of course not, George and I have all the time in the world" Luna responded in her breathy voice. Ginny and Hermione just looked at each other. "Plus we need someone to keep Fred out of our hair and you're perfect for that, Hermione" Ginny bend forward, laughing hysterically while Hermione gaped at Luna.

"What did she mean by that?" Hermione hissed at Ginny, keeping her voice low enough so Luna couldn't hear.

"I think she means for to distract Fred with your womanly ways" Ginny tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably. Hermione stalked off in front of the other two girls with a massive scowl on her face.

"What's up with you, lovely?" Fred asked as she sat down on the blanket.

"Nothing" Hermione murmured refusing to look up at either of the twins.

"What did you do to piss her off so much?" Fred questioned Ginny

"I just explained what Luna meant by a comment that she made as we were walking down here" Ginny explained still trying to keep a straight face.

"Ok, I don't think I'm going to bother finding out what Loony said."

"OI! Don't call her that" George said, slapping Fred over the back of his head.

"Ouch, that wasn't very nice" Fred whined

"It's okay, Georgie. You use to call me it all the time and not think that I heard you." Luna said, smiling fondly at the memory. George reddened in the cheeks, looking at Luna with a guilty smile.

The twins had a fantastic spread of different foods from the kitchens laid out on the picnic blanket as well as some pumpkin juice. As they ate, George and Luna were acting like the perfect loving couple feeding each other and ignoring everyone else. Fred spoke with both Ginny and Hermione about their breaks, the shop and classes. Hermione noticed Fred looking strangely every now and again and most of his questions were aimed at her instead of his sister. The attention he was giving her was making her feel uncomfortable, so she was incredibly grateful when lunch came to an end and it was time to head to class. Hermione had her afternoon classes with both Ginny and Luna, so the girls bid the twins farewell and walked towards the dungeons for their potions class.

If you had of asked Hermione what her afternoon classes were about she wouldn't be able to tell you. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened over the past couple of days. It was only the first day back and she was wishing she had of opted to take up one of the many job offers she had received because than she wouldn't have had so many things worrying her. She still didn't understand why Fred kept looking at her during lunch, or Luna's comment. She was hurt by the fact that Harry had kept something so big from her. And then there was Sirius. She knew she would have to talk to him sooner rather than later but had no idea what to say to him. So instead of listening to her professors she sat there in her own little world.

~~~3~~~

Sitting at the Gryffindor table at dinner, Hermione could feel someone staring at her from the direction of the Heads Table. Not wanting to bring attention to herself she looked through her hair and could see both Fred and Sirius watching her. Feeling uncomfortable about being watched while she ate, she decided it was time to retire for the night. Before she could get up, Ginny decided it was time to talk.

"So, I'm going to confront Draco tonight." She told her. "I can't concentrate on much else without knowing the whole story."

"Good, it's been bugging me too. I can't figure out how I didn't know, living under the same roof as them." Hermione replied, still getting up from her seat "I'm heading to my room for the night. Feeling rather tired from classes today. Not attending classes for over 18 months really hasn't helped" She lied not wanting to deal with any questions.

"Okay, good night. I will fill you in at breakfast" Ginny said with a wave before going back to eating her dinner.

~~~3~~~

Ginny sat on one of the couches in the common room of the Heads dorm waiting for Draco to get back from rounds. She knew that if she wasn't sitting there waiting to ambush him he would head straight to his room. As soon as the portrait swung open, Ginny jumped up "Malfoy, care to tell me what happened with you and Harry now?" Draco turned to look at her with an odd look on his face that she couldn't quite place. He slowly shut the door behind and strolled over to one of the arm chairs not saying anything. As he sat down, he stared at Ginny with the same strange look on his face. "Well!" She snapped at him, not being able to stand the tension that was building. He still didn't say anything. "FOR FUCKS SAKE MALFOY! TELL ME NOW!" She screamed at him.

No longer able to keep his face straight he started laughing hysterically. "You actually believed that?" He asked. "You actually thought we slept together?"

"Well yes, you did, didn't you?"

"No, gosh I thought you were smarter than that Weasley" He said still laughing at her. "I'm not gay, and I doubt Potter is either. He does after all, have great taste in woman." He smirked at her.

Ginny's whole face had gone completely red, partly from embarrassment partly from anger. "So you're saying that you didn't sleep with him when you stayed there"

"No I didn't" He confirmed again "I can't believe you would think I actually slept with Potter. I must have been right about him being a dud in the sack then ay?"

Ginny blushed would of blushed even more if it was possible "I wouldn't know" She said, hiding her face behind her hair.

"So you and Potter never?" He asked curiously. "So you're a virgin then?"

"No we never slept together. He was hunting horcruxes most of the time we were meant to be dating but no I'm not a virgin."

"If it wasn't Potter who deflowered the lovely Ginny, who had the honours?" Curiosity was getting the best of him.

"That isn't your business, Malfoy" She told him. Knowing full well that if she did, he would never leave her alone about it. "Anyway, I'm going to bed now. Early morning and its late."

"At least tell me if I know them." He grabbed her arm to stop her from walking off.

"Quite well" She replied, removing her arm from his grasp and walking to her room.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N – Here is the Friday update. I have no child home today so I have heaps of time to write today. I haven't had much of a chance all week. It's been a busy one. After this chapter it is going to start speeding up. I do realise this is chapter 10 and its only 4 days into the story.

~~~3~~~

First thing the next morning Ginny went to the Great hall for breakfast and filled Hermione in on Draco's little joke. Having had a night to dwell on the fact that she had been fooled by him, she was absolutely furious with herself for actually believing it. As soon as Hermione find out she couldn't stop laughing. She was relieved that Harry hadn't kept something so big from her and also found it hilarious that both the girls had actually fallen for it. Having one less thing on her mind, she felt like a massive weight had been lifted.

As breakfast continued the girls chatted about everything and nothing. As breakfast started to finish up Hermione started to dread the day. She had double Transfigurations up first and it would be the first time she would have to face Sirius since she ran out after kissing him. She couldn't believe she had been so stupid to kiss him again; her embarrassment was tempting her to skip class but the Gryffindor side of her got the better and she came to the decision that after classes today she would go and talk to him. It couldn't be avoided, Christmas is only 2 months away thanks to the term starting later in the year than usual and she didn't want to spend it at the castle. Being home with the people she considered as family was what she needed to do and if she didn't deal with this now it would be an awkward holiday.

~~~3~~~

As Ginny has suspected Sirius hadn't treated Hermione any different during classes. They were learning how to transfigure their partner's appearance. Hermione was allowing Ginny to practise on her and helping her as she already knew what to do, having taught herself prior to her, Harry and Ron leaving to search for the horcruxes.

Sirius had noticed that only Ginny was working on the assignment he had given them for the day. "Okay everyone, great work today. No homework for today, keep practising and we will continue next lesson. Miss Weasley and Miss Granger can you please both stay behind." He knew that is he only held back Hermione she would have attempted to make up an excuse to leave. "I couldn't help but notice only Miss Weasley was working today. Care to explain, Miss Granger?" He decided to speak to them like any other students in hope that it would make Hermione feel a bit more comfortable around him.

"I already know how to do it. I taught myself a couple of years ago." Hermione explained, feeling uncomfortable.

"That may be the case but you still have to participate in class. If you were allowed to sit out of everything you already knew there would be no point in you attending most classes." He told her, taking his frustration with her ignoring him out on her.

"I was participating. I was helping Ginny." She snapped back. "Wouldn't it make more sense for me to help other students rather than sit there and do something I can already do perfectly?"

"If you don't demonstrate that you're abilities, how am I meant to know? To me it just looked like you were avoiding the task."

"You want a demonstration?" She yelled, "Well here you go" She pointed her wand at him and with a swish of it, his nose grew a half an inch, his eyes became further apart and his hair curled into tight ringlets.

"HERMIONE!" Ginny screeched "Change him back now! You can't just transfigure a professor."

Sirius eyes were wide as he stared at Hermione, not sure how to react. Part of him was proud of her abilities but a large part of him was furious that she would have the audacity to do something like this to a professor. He could feel his face going red as she changed him back.

As soon as Hermione realised what she had done she quickly turned him back. She knew she was in deep trouble now. "I cannot believe you did that Miss Granger. 20 points from Gryffindor and a week of detention." He snapped at her. "And in future, you will participate in class even if you do know what you are doing."

She heard the anger in his voice and lowered her head. "Yes Sir." She said before turning and walking out leaving Ginny standing with Sirius.

"You do know that she only did that because she was hurt that you doubted her abilities." Ginny told him

"I don't doubt her abilities but I cannot have it look like I am favouring her just because we live together."

"Living together wouldn't be why you favour her" Ginny murmured, instantly covering her mouth realising what she had said.

"I take it she told you then?" He asked, offering her a seat.

"Yes Sir. She tells me everything" She said as she sat down.

"Please, call me Sirius when we are talking about personal things. I'm only your professor when we are in class and discussing lessons" He responded smiling at her. "Do you mind telling me what she told you? She is refusing to speak to me about what happened."

"She told me that you kissed her before school started but said it shouldn't have happened and then she kissed you before running away at tea on Sunday" She said, not wanting to get into detail so she didn't betray her best friend.

"She didn't happen to say why she kissed me?" he asked, wanting to try to find out Hermione's feelings towards him.

"You were comforting her." She decided that being evasive

"Nothing else?"

"No, Sorry Sirius. I'm sure she will eventually talk to you about it, she is embarrassed at the moment."

"Alright Ginny, thanks anyway. Hopefully she will talk to me soon. I don't want it to be awkward over Christmas."

"Bye, Sirius. Have a good day." Ginny smiled as she left the classroom for lunch.

~~~3~~~

Hermione was glad that the rest of the day went without a hitch. She still couldn't believe that she had let her frustration get the best of her and transfigured a professor. Of course when Ginny had told Fred what had happened he thought it was brilliant and had given her back the 20 points.

After dinner she headed to Sirius' Transfigurations class room for her detention. "Good Evening, Hermione" He said as she entered the room.

"Evening, Sir" She replied, refusing to look at him.

"Please take a seat. I would like to talk to you, if that's ok?" He asked, not wanting to push her into talking to him.

"Certainly, Sir" She said still not looking at him.

"Please look at me Hermione; I want to speak to you as your friend not as your professor." He begged, getting up from his desk to take a seat across from her.

She looked up at him as he sat down "Okay, Sirius." She said.

"Hermione, what happened today? It's not like you to lose your temper the way you did." He said, "You normally just yell." He teased her, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"I know I just kind of lost it. I have had so much on my mind lately that when you started questioning my abilities I couldn't take it anymore."

"I wasn't questioning you, I had no doubt of your abilities but I cannot be seen favouring any students, especially you." He explained "I probably could have handle it better but I only pulled you aside because if others see that you're not doing what I have assigned they will follow your lead."

"I'll put more of an effort in from now on." She said.

"That's all that I ask. If you already know what to do, just let me know and I will have you demonstrate to me and then you can assist your classmates."

"Thank you, I'd like that." She said, smiling at him. "Sirius, I want to apologise for Sunday. I was completely out of line. I really don't know what came over me." She was no longer looking at him and her cheeks were slightly red.

"Don't apologise. It's not your fault. You were upset and needed comforting." He smiled at her. "I should have never kissed you in the first place, but you shouldn't have ran out the way you did. I know you were embarrassed but if you had of just stayed..." He trailed off not wanting to give away what he hoped would have happened had she stayed. He reached to hold her hand, only for her to pull away.

"Sirius, I think for now its better if we keep our distance, we can't have any awkward tension between us."

"If that's what you want, I understand" He said, keeping the hurt out of his voice. "I'm going to revoke the weeks detention. I don't think you deserve it as I did provoke you."

"Thank you." She smiled at him, grateful that she wouldn't have to be alone with him for a week. "Can I leave now?"

"If you'd like" He told her.

"Have a good night Sirius. I will see you in class" She said as she walked out the door.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N - I'm not very happy with this chapter, I have had nothing but issues writing it. Laptop freezing, randomly shutting down ect so I lost half the story a few times.

I am still looking for a new title as I don't feel Changing Tides fits but I cannot decide on one at the moment. I hope you are all enjoying so far. I have had over 5000 views so far and have reached 50 followers. I love reading your reviews, please keep them coming. Some feedback on what you like and what you don't like or give me some idea would be fantastic.

~~~3~~~

Hermione woke up feeling like a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Having requested distance from Sirius had hurt but she knew that it was the only way she could move on and enjoy this year like she wanted to. Today was the start of a brand new day and she wasn't going to let anything bother her. She got out of bed and showered, deciding that she was going to start making sure she looked great. She did a drying and straightening charm on her hair, one of the makeup charms Ginny had taught her, keeping it natural with a small amount of mascara, brown eye shadow and a light pink blush on her cheek. Happy with how her face and hair were she went to her wardrobe and pulled out her uniform. She shortened the hem on her skirt so it sat half an inch above her knees, not wanting to take it too short and then she took in the sides of her blouse so that it sat more snug to her and showed off her curves without being too obvious. Once she was happy with her clothes were she put them on along with her tights and a pair of black ankle boots. She looked in the mirror and smiled. For the first time since the Yule Ball she actually felt she looked good.

With a little extra bounce to her step she headed down to breakfast to meet with Ginny. As she walked down the final steps to the Great Hall she spotted Ginny off to the side of the door talking with Blaise Zabini. _'Why on earth is Ginny talking to Blaise? She hates all Slytherins' _she thought to herself right as Ginny started giggling and touched Blaise's arm _'Oh my, she's flirting with him!'. _With this Hermione decided to try to slip past them so that she didn't interrupt, this was the first time she had seen Ginny openly flirted with someone since her and Harry had called it quits. Unfortunately though, Ginny spotted her before she even made it to the door. "Mione! What's got you in a good mood?" Ginny called out to her, "I'll talk to you later Blaise"

"Okay see you later" Blaise said, sounding a little put out.

"So, are you going to tell me what's got you so happy or what" Ginny asked once Hermione reached her. "Has it got anything to do with your detention with Sirius?"

"Yes it does, but it's not what you're thinking" She laughed, knowing exactly what Ginny was thinking "Come on, I'm hungry. I'll tell you what happened and then you can tell me why you were flirting with Zabini while we have breakfast" To this Ginny's cheek flushed, she was hoping Hermione hadn't noticed.

As the girls ate, Hermione told Ginny about her conversation with Sirius. "And why has this got you in such a good mood?" Ginny asked, "I haven't seen you look this good in...Well...I can't even thing of the last time I seen you this happy. Maybe after Ron said your name after he was poisoned but... no even than you weren't this happy."

"Ginny, slow down, you are rambling" Hermione laughed

"Oh Sorry" Ginny blushed.

"Don't apologise. The reason I am so happy is because for the first time in as long as I can remember I don't have something hanging over my head. I don't have to help Harry destroy Voldemort; I no longer care if I get the top marks in class. I have nothing to prove and no one to impress. After what happened during the break with Sirius, I felt like there was something unfinished sitting on my shoulders and yesterday I finished it. I'm free!" She explained, exaggerating the last sentence. "No why were you flirting with Blaise?"

"I really don't know. We had rounds together last night and it just started then and I guess it continued this morning." She said, not really sure how to explain it. "It's just some friendly banter, there is no denying that he is damn fine but there is nothing there."

"If you say so" Hermione said, not believing her even though it was the truth. "Well, I guess we should head to class now" The girls both got up from the table collected their bags and headed to class.

~~~3~~~

The weeks that followed seemed to fly by, before Hermione knew it, it was mid November and only a month until she would be going home for Christmas. Each morning she was still putting effort into how she looked but she was completely oblivious to the effect it had on some of her male classmates and even a couple of her professors. However she had noticed one particular Professor hanging around a lot more.

At first she had thought that Fred had been hanging around more to spend time with his sister but Ginny wasn't around as much lately. Neither her nor Fred had any idea as to what Ginny was spending her time doing. She was always at breakfast and in class but would often miss lunch and dinner and wouldn't been seen at all some weekends. Hermione knew that the heads were able to get their meals delivered to their rooms as sometimes they would be busy with schedules, which was the excuse Ginny always used. Hermione didn't believe that of course. She knew that in the past they had completed the schedule in one night and nothing really had changed in her schedules.

Hermione was so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed Fred sit down next to her, not that this was unusual seeing how he had been sitting with her at all meals apart from Dinners when he had to sit at the Head table. "Hey 'Mione" he said, smiling at her.

"Oh, Hi Fred" She responded jumping slightly

"And how are you today, beautiful?" Hermione just stared at him wide eyed. Not quite sure if he was joking or not.

"Uhmm, oh I'm good thanks Fred" She finally responded, blushing greatly "And yourself?"

"Good, but I could be better if you answer me one question."

"What would that be?" She asked him, completely confused with the whole conversation '_how on earth could she make him even better by answering a question?'_ she thought to herself

"Would you do me the honour of coming to Hogsmeade on Saturday?" He asked, unable to bring himself to looking in her eyes with his cheeks reddening more and more.

_'__Oh. Why would he want to me to go with him to hogsmeade? How on earth would that make him better? Is it a date or just as friends?' _ She realised she was taking a while to respond to him so she asked the last thing she had thought to herself "Like a date?"

"Well, yes that's what I was hoping for." He said, before quickly covering himself "But if you'd prefer we can go as friends" only now looking her in the eyes.

"I'd love to." It was now her turn to blush and look away. Before she could look up Fred had got up and moved to the Head table, sitting back there for breakfast for the first time in at least 2 week.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N – Sorry it has taken so long for me to update. I have been lacking any motivation to write for the past week and I want to thank **charlotteelizabeth38**, your review today gave me back the motivation to write, so this chapter is dedicated to you :). I also want to thank **Jasmin Jade xx** for her reviews. Don't worry this chapter is going to be longer.

I still don't own anything but the plot. Here goes nothing! Remember to please review; it really does keep me writing.

~~~3~~~

As she was sitting in Charms the same morning, working on the essay that Fred had assigned them to do that lesson, Ginny noticed the looks Fred was giving Hermione. She had noticed that they were spending more and more time together lately but had put that down to the fact the George was always with Luna and, well, she had been spending most of her time in her common rooms. But these looks were telling her something more may have been going on. It wouldn't be obvious to anyone who wasn't family. Hell, everyone knows that the twins don't hide the fact that they are checking someone out and they aren't very conspicuous when they flirt, seeing how up until George started getting serious with Luna they both flirted with anyone with tits. But these looks were different. He was shyly smiling and constantly glancing in Hermione's direction but would quickly look away when Hermione looked up at him.

_'I hope this isn't because of my questioning the new rules regarding dating professors' _she thought to herself. She quickly grabbed a spare bit of invisible ink parchment out of her book bag and began to write. _H. Why does Fred keep looking at you!? G. _And passed it to the girl sitting next to her.

Hermione noticed the blank parchment slide in front of her and looked to Ginny next to her. Ginny tapped her wand just above the desk to try to express to her that she needed to tap the parchment to show what it says. The parchment was similar to that of the Maduarers Map; only Ginny had designed this on to only recognise her and Hermione's wand. Having made it only recently, she had yet to show Hermione how it worked. Hermione got the message and inconspicuously tapped the parchment and read.

After reading what was written, she glanced up at her professor to again find him looking at her. Only this time instead of quickly looking away he gave her a slight smile which she returned. Grabbing the parchment she replied, _May have something to do with our date on Saturday. Or I could have something on my face. H. _And slid the parchment back to Ginny before looking back up at Fred, giving him an innocent smile.

Ginny had slid the parchment back in front of Hermione with great force and a not to impressed look on her face. _Head's common room for lunch. NO Excuses!_

~~~3~~~

As class ended before lunch Ginny stood and began tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for Hermione to pack up her stuff. There was no way she was going to let her try to get out of giving her some answers. As soon as Hermione put her bag over her shoulder Ginny grabbed her hand and started to drag her out of the room

"OUCH! I can walk myself!" Hermione whined as she tried to free her hand.

"I'm not taking any chances, now can you hurry up. I want this cleared up before the end of lunch!" Ginny snapped back.

Reaching the Heads entrance, Ginny muttered the password before pulling the other girl through the portrait and up the stairs to her dorm.

"What the fuck Ginny!? I don't appreciate you dragging me around the whole fucking school" Hermione snapped as Ginny cast a quick silencing charm on the room.

"Well, I don't appreciate you leading my brother on!" Ginny screeched back at Hermione. "Why the fuck are you going on a date with Fred when you have feelings for Sirius!?"

"I told you weeks ago it was time for me to move on from Sirius. I haven't even spoken to him about anything that isn't school related since I told him I wanted distance over 3 weeks ago" She snapped, not to happy that Ginny was trying to interfere when she hadn't even been around as of late. "And you probably haven't noticed but I have been spending most of my time with Fred as of late because my supposed best friend is off hiding in her dorm. Tell me Ginny, what have you been doing for the past few weeks?"

"Don't you dare try to change the subject. I am looking out only trying to look out for my brother because I happen to know he has a massive crush on you and has for some time!"

"How do you know that?"

"Do you remember when I was asking about the new rule with dating professors and he asked me why I wanted to know?" Hermione only nodding know the exact moment "Well, when I said it wasn't me who was interested he guessed it was you and because you got up and left so quickly he thought it was him you liked. The look on his face was pure bliss."

Realisation quickly crashed down on Hermione, the comment Luna had made when they all had the picnic, the constant glances in her direction and the hanging out with her all the time suddenly made sense. _'Wow, do I like him too?'_ She thought to herself _'He's funny, he's smart, independent, well except for with George, and well he is really attractive'_

"You're not just using him as a rebound from Sirius are you?" Ginny asked, pulling Hermione out of her thoughts.

"No, I'm not. Sirius didn't even cross my mind when he asked me." Hermione answered honestly.

"Good" Ginny said, with a smile crossing her face.

"So, are you going to tell me what you have been doing the past few weeks?" Hermione asked. "Does it have anything to do with you and Blaise flirting outside the great hall the other week?"

"No, that was just friendly banter. I have been spending time with both Draco and Blaise." She answered

"So, it's Draco now? What's going on Ginny?" She queried

"Honestly, we are just hanging out. They don't have many friends anymore. There are only 5 Slytherin 7th years, as you know and a lot of the other student's still treat them as if they are Death Eaters and should be locked in Azkaban."

"You treated Draco that way too." Hermione reminded her.

"I know, but working with him has shown me he isn't as bad as I thought." She told her.

"I already told you that. Come on, I'm starving and we have class in 20 minutes" Hermione said as she stood. "And I'll be asking Draco if that's all that's going on when we have rounds together tonight." She smirked at the other girl as she walked out the door.

~~~3~~~

The rest of the day past as normal, Fred sat next to Hermione for the remainder of lunch. Only a little closer than he had in the past although no one else would have notice but Hermione definitely noticed his arm brushing hers as he reached for his pumpkin juice.

That night Hermione met Draco outside the heads common room to begin their rounds. "We have to inform Professor Weasley that we are beginning now." He told her as they began to walk off.

"While that is helpful, it might be easier if I knew which one." She said, pointing out the obvious.

"Two ears" Draco laughed at his own little joke.

"Very funny, well if it's Fred we are walking in the wrong direction" She told him, while turning to walk in the other direction. "Fred is our Charms professor."

"Fuck, I always get them confused. They shouldn't be allowed to have twins as Professors. It is way too confusing." He whined, following Hermione.

After notifying Fred that they were starting they decided to start with checking out the Room of Requirement. Draco had discovered that since the room had become known by most 6th and 7th years, it was often used by students for snogging and once he had caught 2 Hufflepuff 7th years shagging in there.

As they walked down the 7th floor corridor Hermione decided it was time to get his explanation as to why him and Ginny were spending heaps of time together. "So Draco, what's going on with you and Ginny?" She asked, jumping right to the point. As he went to open his mouth she quickly added "And don't try lying to me. You know that I can always tell when you're lying."

"It's creepy how you can do that. Not even my own mother can tell when I'm lying" Draco said, trying to avoid the question.

"Oh, stop being a sook and just answer"

"Fine. I don't actually know. We are hanging out a lot. Started off doing schedules and then one day Blaise stopped by and they were getting along. Since then the 3 of us just sit around and talk." He explained.

"But you like her, don't you?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

Draco hesitated for a bit before answering "Yeah I guess I do, but I'm fairly certain she has a thing for Blaise."

"I'm not too sure about that" Hermione said.

They finished off their rounds with only small talk and after informing Fred that they were finishing up, Draco walked Hermione back to the Gryffindor common room, following new policy. "So, what's going on with you and Professor Two Ears?" Draco asked.

"I'm not 100% sure, but we have a date on Saturday thought." Hermione told him.

"Good luck, but you can do better." Draco told her, as she stepped through the Fat Lady's portrait

"Thanks, Drake. Good Night"

~~~3~~~

Before Hermione knew it, it was Saturday morning. Hogsmeade day and she had a date with Fred. She didn't know why but she was freaking out. She woke up at 6 am and started sifting through her wardrobe to try to find something to wear. After going through nearly every outfit she owned she found her favourite pair of skinny jeans, which she decided to, change the colour to black and a long sleeved cream high collar blouse with spikes on the collar. Having decided on what she would wear, she had a quick shower and dried her hair. Deciding that since it was a date she would wear a little more makeup, performed one of the spells Ginny had showed her to apply some black eyeliner, mascara, blush and a pink lipstick. She then dressed and returned to her wardrobe to get her floral Doc Martian boots.

Once she was dressed, she looked around the dorm and noticed that all the girls had already left for breakfast; she decided she would follow too.

Once she began to eat, Professor McGonagall stood up to address the entire school. "As I am sure you are all well aware, next Thursday is Halloween. As a reward for all of you we will be having a dance instead of the usual feast. Friday's classes will be cancelled so that all are able to enjoy themselves. First to fifth years, the dance for you will end at 11pm for the upper class men it will continue. I request that all wear costumes however some costumes will be banned. A list of said banned costumes has been place in the Entrance halls. I look forward to seeing you all there!"

The Great hall erupted in noise and movement as soon as the Headmistress ceased talking.

After breakfast Fred came to stand beside where Hermione sat, "Are you ready, Mi lady?" He asked, presenting his hand to her.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She said in mock dread as he took her hand.

They walked hand in hand towards Hogsmeade neither speaking but enjoying the comfortable silence. While Fred was he sort of ex's brother she had known him for the entire time she had been in the Wearing World and she was comfortable around him except of course when he was up to no good.

"So where would you like to go first?" Fred asked her, breaking the silence as they reached Hogsmeade.

"How about Honeydukes?"

"That sounds good to me" He said smiling down at her. "One can never have too many sweets" To this she just smiled up. She had never noticed how much taller he now was to her. They walked into Honeydukes which was still relatively quiet seeing how most people made it their last stop in the village. After selecting what they wanted, Fred went to take Hermione's haul from her as they reached the counter. "No, I can't let you pay for this" She told him

"Yes you can, and you will" He told her. "You're my date and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer" and he snatched the bag from her hand laughing at her failed attempt at struggling with him

"Fine, but I'll buy next time" She said. Fred paid for both of their items then shrunk the bags down and put them in his top pocket.

"To Zonkos!" He proclaimed in an exadurated voice pointing in the direction of his competitions store before reaching to hold Hermione's hand again and flashing an adoring smile.

As they entered the store it was packed. It would have appeared that most students had decided to head her first. To this sight Hermione groaned. Fred leant down and whispered in her ear "Don't worry love, they won't be bothering us" before he tucked a curl behind her ear and lead her through the crowd to the back room. "Fred, it says staff only we can't be in here!"

"Yes you can" a voice said from behind her. She turned to see George and Luna standing behind them. "So what's going on here?" He asked wiggling his eyebrows and pointing to their joined hands.

"It would be a date, George" Fred said, beaming at his twin brother as he opened the door for them all to enter. "Zonk! You there mate?" He called out

"Well, if it isn't my two favourite customers and competition" An older man said as he popped his head around from behind some shelves. "Oh and two lovely ladies as well. So what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, I just wanted to get some things and slow to impress this one by showing off what great connections I have." Fred said nodding towards Hermione to which she laughed.

"Help yourselves lad, and on the house like always. I don't want to go find that you have stashed gallons around the place again" The old man said before turning back to the shelf he was at prior.

As Fred and Hermione walked around the storage room, Fred picking up his "few" supplied, he turned and whispered to her "See what great connections I have"

"That's all well and good, but I am best friends with 'The-Boy-Who-Lived-Twice' she laughed.

As they finished up, Fred took hold of her hand again "Come on, I have a surprise for you." He said before turning to the remaining 3 people in the room "Bye George, Luna. And Farewell my dear Zonks!" he said with exadurated hand gestures.


End file.
